Even amid the cuts and tight budgets of this economically devastating year for higher education, the University of California is hiring senior officials at top salaries and awarding large raises to others, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. According to the newspaper, the university has in the last two months awarded raises of as much as 22.3 percent to a half dozen senior officials. University officials defended the increases, saying that many senior positions must be filled, and that certain circumstances warrant raises or high salaries.